The present invention relates to force transducing devices, and particularly to devices mountable to a fixed support and adapted to produce an electrical signal in response to the application of a force to the device.
Such force tranducing devices are used in a number of applications, for example in load cells (e.g. of the resistance strain-gage type) which output an electrical signal in response to the amplitude of the force (i.e., the load) applied, or in rate-of-change systems, such as inertia-acceleration systems, in which the electrical output corresponds to the rate-of-change of the force amplitude, the latter systems commonly using piezoelectric crystals. One source of error in the known devices of either type is due to temperature-caused variations or signals in their outputs. This is because temperature changes not only vary the characteristics of the transducing element itself, but also vary the dimensions of its mounting to its respective support such as to introduce extraneous stresses, and therefore errors, in their electrical outputs. Many of the known devices do not provide temperature compensation, and in the known devices which do provide for it, the arrangements are usually quite complicated, bulky and expensive.